High demand for te reo Māori courses could protect them from cuts when national polytech, Te Pūkenga, is disestablished.

New Ministry of Education data shows 37,885 people studied at least one te reo course last year - up 75% from 21,635 a decade ago.

Polytechs have seen the biggest growth in the last 10 years, with student numbers tripling to 7,803 in 2025.

Universities have added more than 1200 students since 2015, while Wānanga enrolments grew from 15,260 to 24,775.

Auckland’s Unitec offers free night classes for adults, but is having to turn away people due to high demand.

Course coordinator Tama Nightingale-Pene said they take in about 500 people each term for the programme, called Kura pō - so just under 2000 a year.

“I’ve actually been in this role for 10 years and have seen demand picking up from students,” he said.

“If I look back 10 years ago, we were maybe only getting around 200 each term.”

Nightingale-Pene said the beginner classes are often the first ones full, meaning they have to turn away people.

There are many reasons for more students wanting to learn the language, he said.

“I think they just want to learn and be informed on the basics of te reo and Māoritanga.”

“But there’s all sorts of other reasons, like wanting to use it more at their workplaces, and some where their kids are learning it at school, so they want to help them with their homework and things.”

Most of Unitec’s students are Pakeha - alongside a lot of Māori.

The language isn’t just offered in New Zealand institutions - with Yale University starting to offer a course in te reo this year.

The University of Melbourne also offers a Māori education course.

Nightingale-Pene isn’t worried Unitec’s te reo courses will be cut, when Te Pūkenga is disestablished in January.

It’s thought that re-establishing independent polytechs will cost more than 500 courses and about 1000 jobs.

He said leadership at Unitec would be silly to drop the Kura pō course, as they’re among the most popular in attendance and enrolment.

“When it was first talked about de-establishing Te Pūkenga, we knew even back then, there is a need, they can see that people are keen to learn.

“It’s like there’s a shift in the mindsets now, you know, where people are actually, embracing te reo a bit more.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023, after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.